Karasuno's Managers: Little Ukai and The Vulnerable

11: Karasuno's Braincell

It was day three at Karasuno without their official setter, without two of their first years, and most importantly, without their Comedic Queen and Devoted Goddess. The team was slowly but surely losing their minds and today seemed to be the breaking point.

They happened to stumble upon the situation accidentally.

Narita and Kinnoshita were in the storage room untangling the volleyball nets. The team had become so used to Mirae and Emiko setting up and cleaning after practice, that these past few days they stuffed the equipment without so much as a thought.

Takeda Sensei nearly passed out at the mess.

"Can you imagine how Daichi would have reacted if he saw this?"

Narita chuckled. "Let's try not to think about that. I don't want any nightmares."

"Yeah, he was one strict captain," Kinnoshita paused and yanked a knot-free, "that's not to say Ennoshita isn't."

"I agree. It's just that our team as it is now is ten times more troublesome than it was last year."

"And we're missing five of our team members," he shook his head. "Ennoshita rules with an iron fist while being fair. Makes you wonder though, how would have Daichi led the team alongside Emiko and Mirae?"

"He wouldn't."

"No?"

"Well, you have to consider who else was here." He deadpanned at the confused look on Kinnoshita's face. "Sugawara and Asahi."

"Oh," he drawled. "Yea that makes a lot more sense now that I think about it."

"Now I'm not one to talk ill about our Upperclassmen, but Asahi is a walking-talking embodiment of anxiety. If he messed up a training recommendation or if he forgot to hand in his nutritional log, which the team collectively always forgets to do, he would have a panic attack. It would get to the point where Mirae would walk into the gym and Asahi would hyperventilate."

"How many days did it take Yachi to get used to them?"

"Three days?" Narita offered. "Even then, as anxious as Yachi gets, she's fared way better than Asahi ever could. You know just how bad Mirae and Emiko's screaming matches get. We can hear them from up in the clubroom. It takes five of us to restrain them."

"Wow." Kinnoshita paused, realization dawning on him. "Asahi would die, wouldn't he?"

"Yep."

"So what about Sugawara then?"

"He would feed Emiko."

"Feed Emiko?" Kinnoshita repeated. "Isn't it the other way around?"

"I meant that more in the figurative sense. He'd feed her ideas. Mould her into his minion then send her to the team and watch from the background as chaos ensues."

"Wow. You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you."

A shudder ran down his spine. He swallowed visibly. "I've had nightmares about this. Sugawara and Emiko would be a bad mix. If someone looked at our team the wrong way, he would open the gates of hell and send out the hellhound known as Emiko. It'd be the puppeteer and the puppet. Daichi wouldn't know who to control first. With the clashing of personalities, forget making it to nationals, Mirae wouldn't stay on as a manager."

"Now that would be a nightmare." Kinnoshita pointed to the ends of the net, "Okay I think the knots are gone. Let's pull it back."

Both boys grabbed the ends and yanked. Narita put a heck of a lot more power in his tug, surprising Kinnoshita who lurched and fell into the rack of medical supplies.